Running
by xlonelyxghostx
Summary: Buffy's coming to Wolfram & Hart, having no idea that Spike is now back. Will they be able to pick up where they left off, or will she admit that her 'I love you' wasn't really sincere? R for swearing, mild violence, and future sexual situations...
1. Running

~Running~  
  
~Chapter 1 - Letters~  
  
I don't want you to give it all up  
Leave your own life collecting dust  
And I don't want you to feel sorry for me  
You never gave us the chance to be  
  
And I don't need you to be by my side  
Tell me that everything's all right  
I just wanted you to tell me the truth  
You know I'd do that for you.  
  
Spike sat in a black leather chair, his feet propped up on the desk in front of him, absently staring out a large window at the city around him. He took a long drag from a cigarette and blew the smoke out, letting it float through the room until it diminished into the air. He stuck it back into his mouth and was just about to repeat the process when he was very rudely interrupted.  
"I told you not to smoke in my office!" Angel complained, walking through the door and glaring at him.  
Spike slowly let out a puff of smoke, "Why do you care?" he asked, not in the most pleasant of tones, "It's not like you're going to suffer from second-hand smoke," he turned back toward the window.  
Angel put his hands on his hips, "Get your feet off of my desk, get out of my chair, and leave my office!"  
Spike glared at him as he slowly took his feet off the desk, making sure to knock off and crumble as many papers as possible along the way.  
"Geeze, sorry to invade you're personal bubble mate," he picked his duster up off of the back of the chair and turned to leave, "and take your hands off your hips will you? You look like a bloody Barbie doll," he said as he walked past Angel and out the door.  
Angel narrowed his eyes as Spike walked away.  
He turned around, "You know, you don't have to hang around here constantly anymore!" he yelled after him.  
Spike stopped, took another drag of his cigarette and turned back around, "Aww, you know you'd be lost without me dear Angel," he said.  
"No..really I wouldn't."  
"Well fine then," Spike said, pretending to be hurt, "I'll just leave. Go out and get some new demon friends maybe. Tell them all your secrets, helpful tips on defeating you," he sniffed, just for good measure.  
Angel narrowed his eyes more, "I hate you Spike," he said flatly before turning into his office.  
Spike chuckled, "You know, that honestly doesn't sound like a bad idea anymore. Its not like I have any motivation to help the fight against evil now," he dropped his cigarette on the floor and stepped on it to put it out, leaving a nasty mark in the carpet.  
Spike headed forward back into Angel's office.  
Angel was now sitting behind his desk, his legs propped up on it.  
"Now how come you're allowed to put your feet on the desk, but you yell at me like a little girl for it?" he asked.  
"Because it's my desk," Angel said matter-of-factly as he closed the manila folder in his hands and stood up to go to the file cabinet.  
"Now see, that only further proves my point. I'm not treated right at all around here. I have no motivation to hang around," Spike said.  
Angel shut the drawer and turned to him, "So basically what you're saying is, since there's no ghostly curse to hold you here and no Buffy here for you to sleep with, there's no reason to help anyone anymore?" he put his hands back on his hips.  
"Now Barbie, that wasn't very nice," Spike said, leaning against the wall.  
Angel glared, but hastily put his arms back down, "But it is the truth, isn't it?" he walked back to his desk and picked up an envelope.  
"No, it is not the truth you wanker," Spike said, leaning his head back against the cool cement.  
"Really?" Angel asked as he tore open the envelope, "Then why did you start fighting for the good side in the first place?"  
Spike opened his mouth to speak, but realized that Angel was basically right.  
Angel pulled the paper out of the envelope and turned to look at Spike as he opened it, "What? Realized I'm right?" he asked, smirking.  
Spike scowled, "Okay, so maybe that's it," he said as Angel began to read the letter, "But that's not why I stay around. Though, like I said, since Buffy's gone and you treat me like horse shit, I have no reason to help anymore."  
He looked over at Angel, whose eyes were wide as he finished the letter. He looked up at the wall in front of him and played with the corner of the paper nervously.  
Then he chuckled, a low, "I know something you don't know" chuckle.  
"What's so funny?" Spike asked, standing upright again and taking a step forward.  
Angel turned around, still smiling like a kid who just got away with stealing candy and said, "Well, I think we just got your motivation back Spike," he shoved the letter into his hands.  
Spike furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Angel walked back around his desk and sat down in the chair. He looked down at the letter and began to read. Angel watched him, his expression wearing a sarcastic smile as he put his feet back on the desk and folded his hands in his lap.  
Spike suddenly stopped and looked up at him, his face paler than usual, "Sh.sh.she's."  
"That's right, lover boy, Buffy's coming back. And by the sound of that letter, it doesn't seem like she knows you're still around," Angel said.  
If Spike had been any weaker of a being, he would have fainted.  
  
He stood there, not speaking, and staring at the wall behind Angel's  
desk.  
After a few moments of stunned silence, Angel began to worry, "Spike?"  
Spike shook his head to snap himself out of the daze. He looked down at the letter again.  
Suddenly, he tossed the letter onto Angel's desk and took off out of the room.  
Angel sat back up and leaned over his desk to see out the door at Spike's retreating figure, "Uh, where are you going in such a rush?" he called after him.  
Spike stopped and turned around, "Well damnit Barbie, she still thinks I'm dead! I have to go plan my entrance! Now shut the bloody hell up and let me leave! I thought you didn't want me around!? Well now I'm not going to be for the rest of the day!"  
And with that Spike disappeared down the stairs, knocking over several people/demons along the way.  
Angel sat back in his chair and picked up the letter, "Unbelievable," he muttered as he folded it back up and put it in the envelope.  
  
-*-*-*-*-Author's Notes-*-*-*-*-  
  
Short, but it's really just the prologue. So yeah..  
You know the drill, read & review and it'll give me more motivation to update.  
  
Curses,  
xlonelyxghostx 


	2. Remembering You

~Running~  
  
~Chapter 2 - Remembering You~  
  
I'm so tired of being here  
Suppressed by all my childish fears  
And if you have to leave  
I wish that you would just leave  
Cause you're presence still lingers here  
And it won't leave me alone  
  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase  
  
Buffy walked around her room, opening drawers, pulling out select items, and shoving them into her suitcase on the bed behind her.  
The room almost exactly resembled the one from her Sunnydale home; only it was a bit larger and shaped different. But she had done her best to make it look as identical as the first one.  
She shut the drawer she had been working in, but kept looking down at the floor.  
'God, it's been almost two years,' she thought suddenly.  
Yet she could still replay the scene in her mind perfectly.  
The light shining down through him, the feeling of emptiness she had felt when she realized he was really going to be..gone.  
"Hey," her thoughts were interrupted by Dawn's voice.  
"Hey," she answered, her voice a little depressed.  
Dawn sighed inwardly. You could always tell when Buffy had been thinking about Spike. As much Dawn herself missed him, she wished her sister could let go and move on. It was unhealthy to be like this for so long.  
Dawn slowly made her way into the room and sat down on her sister's bed, "Buffy," she said, not sure where to start.  
Buffy stood there watching her, waiting for her to go on, "Yes.."  
Dawn sighed, "Have you ever thought about, you know, seeing someone?"  
Buffy raised an eyebrow.  
"A shrink, I mean?" Dawn braced herself for Buffy's reaction.  
Buffy pretended to be confused, even though she knew exactly what Dawn was implying, "What do you mean? Why would I need to see a shrink?" she turned around and walked back to her dresser, pulling open another drawer.  
Dawn watched Buffy's back sympathetically.  
She rose and walked to her, setting a hand on her back, "You really did love him, didn't you?"  
Buffy stared down into the drawer. It was taking everything in her not to burst into tears. God, she hated referring t him in the past tense. She nodded, "Yea," she pulled away and walked back to her suitcase.  
She bent down to fiddle with a few things inside it. She stood back up and crossed her arms. She contemplated whether she should say anything for a moment, and then remembered that Dawn had always liked Spike. Just like her mother had..  
"Do you remember him?" she asked, turning around to Dawn, who was now leaning against her dresser.  
Dawn shrugged, "Yea, I guess. I don't know, it's hard to be sure. It's not like I can look at a picture to refresh my memory."  
Buffy smiled, "I remember everything," she said quietly, "The way he looked, the way he smelled, the way it felt to be in his arms, the way he kissed, the way he.."  
"Buffy! Stop! I know exactly what this is going to lead to, and as much as I liked Spike, I don't want to hear about your sex adventures!" Dawn said, looking disgusted.  
Buffy laughed softly, pulling her arms down so she could pick at her finger nails, "sorry," she said, turning back around to her suitcase.  
Dawn watched her, tears pricking at the back of her eyes from seeing her sister in so much pain.  
"Hey," she said, taking a step forward.  
Buffy turned around, wiping a single tear off her cheek.  
Dawn swallowed hard, "It'll be okay," she pulled Buffy into a hug, "Sh..it'll be okay," she soothed her sister as she cried into her shoulder.  
  
Dawn rubbed her back slowly as her sister fought to control herself.  
After a few moments, she was able to hold her tears back, and she pulled her face off of Dawn's shoulder, wiping away the tears. She forced a smile, and Dawn weakly smiled back.  
Just then Xander interrupted them. "Hey, you guys ready?" he asked, poking his head in the room as he struggled with several suitcases. Buffy turned around, "Yea, almost," she said, looking at her still basically empty suitcase. Xander dropped a suitcase and gingerly bent down to pick it back up, "Well, hurry up, our flight leaves in two hours, and you know what the airports are like these days," he said, dropping two more suitcases, one of them landing on his foot. He squealed in pain. Willow came rushing out of her room stopping when she realized it was Xander, "Geeze Xander, can't you do anything without causing yourself bodily injury?" Xander moaned, "Shut up and help me, these are your suitcases!" he said as he finally got a hold of all the bags and made his way towards the stairs. Dawn and Buffy laughed, and then turned back toward each other. "So, I take it you're going to need help?" Dawn asked, looking down at Buffy's suitcase. Buffy cringed, "Yea," she said, rubbing her neck and turning towards her closet. They took off to separate sides of her room and hastily began grabbing random things that Buffy might need. A minute later, Giles appeared in her doorway, "Buffy, have you seen my toothbrush?" he asked, "I can't remember if I packed it." Buffy stuck her head out of her closet, "You packed it this morning, remember?" she said. "Ah..yes," Giles said, suddenly remembering. "Geeze Giles, you're losing your mind," Dawn said as she shoved a ball of tee shirts into Buffy's suitcase. Giles opened his mouth to retort when they all heard a large 'bang' followed by several smaller 'bangs'. "Xander!" they heard Willow yell. All three looked at each other for a moment and then ran down the hall. Willow was staring down the stairs at Xander, who looked paralyzed at the bottom. Buffy gasped, "Xander! Are you okay?" Xander coughed and pushed a small bag off of his face, "Yes, I'm fine. I just fell down a flight of steps and got six 500-pound suitcases thrown on top of me. I'm just dandy!" He pushed the rest of the suitcases off of himself and stood up, brushing his pants off. "I am done carrying these suitcases by the way! It'd be different if you packed maybe a couple bags, but no. You pack ten, and fill them with small elephants!" he said sarcastically as he pushed open the screen door and kicked the suitcases out. "Oh no! Xander don't do that! I've got a lot of important stuff in those," Willow rushed down the stairs and tried to save her suitcases. Xander rose his foot for one last kick to take out the remaining anger. He brought his foot down and as soon as it came in contact with the bag.. "Ahhhh!" he screamed and fell back on the floor, clutching his foot in pain. "Oh no, Xander! That's the suitcase with my books in it! Don't kick that!" Willow glared at him and hoisted the last bag over her shoulder, carrying all six out the door with ease. "Don't worry, I won't!" he called after her, still laying on the floor. The three left at the top of the steps were doing all they could to keep from laughing. Xander picked himself up off the floor and dusted off again, looking up the stairs at them. "Oh shut up," he said, turning and walking into the kitchen to get the cooler. Giles, Buffy, and Dawn all looked at each other and burst into laughter. After a few seconds, Giles straightened himself back up and turned back towards his room to get his bag. "I trust you're both ready?" he said as he turned into his room. The girls nodded. "Good, and I trust you can handle your suitcases?" he asked. "Yea, think so," Dawn said, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay then, I'll see you in the car?" They both nodded and Giles disappeared into his room. Dawn and Buffy smiled at each other and then began to walk back towards their rooms. They got to Buffy's first, and before she walked in, Dawn stopped her, "Hey, I'm serious," she said, "It'll be okay." Buffy nodded. "And who knows," Dawn said, "Maybe you'll find someone in L.A.!" she turned and walked to her room. Buffy watched her as she turned the corner and shook her head. As much as she wanted to believe Dawn, she seriously doubted it.  
  
-*-*-*-*-Author's Notes-*-*-*-*-  
  
This is also terribly short, and kind of sucks. But I didn't really want to write it and only put it here so you'd all have an idea of what Buffy and her little possy were up to. Hm...sorry for the wait too. It's been...hectic. And does anyone know why everything's uploading weird? Half of the chapters wont separate into paragraphs. Yea, I apologize for that. Yea. R&R!  
  
xlonelyxghostx 


End file.
